Dear Drina,
we are safe back home, after a long but quite pleasant journey (even a night at an airport Girona near Barcelona was OK). When we arrived the temperature (inside the house) was just above 0, but as we were going to bed it was already 14! Now it is 16, fortunately it is quite warm outside.
...
Have you read the last English entry in our blog from Ecuador?
Give our love to your family (aunt especially), sister Lenka andall the other sisters and ninas at the mission when you phone them. ...
God bles you,
Darek
Poljski blog na engleskom - 3. dio
English3
Dear friends,
again I did not keep my promise of writing and again I'm asking you for understanding. There is so much to write about and it takes most of my free time to complete the blog in Polish. Besides, being a family man carries some additional responisibilities thus limiting my time for contemplation and writing. Anyway, once we are back in Poland I promise to try and translate some of my Polish blog entries to you. Anyway, thank you very much for your notes on the blog - being aware that you are interested in what is happenning here gives an additional dimension to what we are doing!
It is Friday, March 5 today. With just a few days to go (we are leaving for Barcelona on Monday evening) it is time to analyse what we have managed to do and see here. Definitely, it has been a time of blessing for us. As I have already written we all feel that we have been receiving much more than we have been able to offer. All the kindness and warmth on the part of the sisters and ninas has had (I hope) an indelible influence upon us all. The change can be easily seen in the smiles of Wojtek, first of all, and his determination to come back to the mission as quickly as possible. Tomek has also proved to be very brave, facing the hardships of travelling, different food and climate. As concerns me and Joanna, we have grown stronger in our determination to share more with those in need.
We believe that the job the sisters are doing is absolutely necessary and their choices of priorities are just right. Since Ecuador is a country of resources and moderate climate (at least high in the Andes) the people should be able to live sustainable lives of reasonable comfort. Why it has not been as it should have been with so many of them is a matter of another consideration and my knowledge on the subject is of a limited nature at the moment. Sill, I am convinced that those of them who are most desperate, and to whom the sisters have turned all their hearts and attention, are being helped by our missionaries in the best possible way. The hermanas are trying to show them the importance of faithful family life, help them with problems of alcoholism, show them (by the example of their own lives) Christ and His love and they also take care of their children and provide the little ones with necessary food and education, try to form their character, strengthen their will and perseverence. The job may often seem "mission impossible", but miracles do happen and I think I have witnessed such a miracle with some of the ninas and ninos happening here - thank you my Lord!
Being here has offered me an opportunity to see some people giving their lives to help others. What is most astonishing of all for me is that this sacrifice is not understood as sacrifice by the sisters and so many others doing their missionary job. It comes as something very natural, and the feeling of sacrifice is - it seems - not being felt. Still, their lives are full of joy (I'd risk to say they are even more cheerful than most of us are in our normal family lives without such an obvious sacrifice), and although they are only human and everybody here has their moments of weaknesses, it is life in a form close to its fullness and completeness.
I presume it is our common experience, that offering ourselves for the sake of others brings you happiness, still we do not often take the risk to live our lives as constant offering, one wonders why. Here I have seen that such life is possible, and that the happiness derived from it may be extremely intense, making our lives fuller of sense and joy.
Once again, thank you for your prayers!
I hope to hear from you soon.
darek
Dodaj komentarzkomentarzy: 1Drina
meki.suncev.sjaj@gmail.com
2010-03-11
21:22:13
93.136.93.217
Welcome bach to Poland! Thank you for sharing your nice and blessed experiences with all of us! I hardly wait to see you, and hear everything in details! God bless you, and God thank you in the way, only He knows is the best for all of you! Best regards, Drina, Croatia.
Post je objavljen 11.03.2010. u 21:22 sati.